Prologue

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My early memories of Fede, were quite vague. He had already turned seven, when i was only five years of age.
He remembered me well. He used to say, that i had a; 'Smiley-giggly-face'. I had no clue what it meant but, i just knew he made me shy, even back then.
He was someone, that kept your eye.
Awkwardly long, just flesh and bones with tanned skin and unruly black curls. His curls always a bit to long, draping over his forehead like a curtain.
He practically lived in his swimming shorts and always wore ragged shirts with no sleeves, there were always a few stains to be found. Adult probably had a lot to say about that, i didn't notice it, my awareness of Fede's situation came much later.
He had been on his twelve town, by the time he turned seven years old. His father, was a professional surfer back then and was always chasing competitions. Fede was just, dragged along and had to deal with it.
I couldn't quite wrap my mind around it, how it would feel to move around that much. I had grew up in GranVille. A small, idealistic town close to both shores an lakes. With no Starbucks in sight and faithful people that, disliked change.
When Fede and his father, moved in to time it was the news of the year. A young, single and good looking father that came to move here with his only son. The people living here were paranoid of stranger, finding a stranger walking down the street suspicion. So it was quite the rage when old Billy-Joe rented out one of his house, after he went to live at the retirement home. He had to reassure everyone, of their good intentions that next Sunday at church. My dad was one of the people that following Sunday in church, to protest peoples wariness of newcomers. Even if he himself was one of the people that grew up here, and would never leave. He loved GrandVille to it't core, and the people loved him. The slightly overweight baker, with friendly beading eyes and finger licking pastries behind his counters.
I would often sneak behind the counter, and steal some of them when he was busy in the back kitchen. I would magically, be full when it was time for dinner. My father never mentioned it but, i think he knew.
The bakery was located at the town's square. Looking out over the grand church, next to the butcher and a few steps away from the outdated hotel's ran by the family of one of my eldest friend's.
The bakery was a small store with square windows, striped sunshades and round tables decorating the outside. It was, where i had first met Fede. Now, i didn't remember the moment. I just had heard the same story often enough, to make it feel like my own.
My father had welcomed the strangers, with a hospitality that was lost to most around here. My dad and Fede's father had talked for a bit, he was still nice back then. They talked about the places they had lived before

My dad welcomed the strangers to town like the friendly man my dad was. Even Fede's father was nice back then. Not a drunk piece of shit, at least. They talked for a bit, and my dad asked them politely where they lived before moving to this tiny town. As they continued talking, I was hiding behind the counter, trying to listen. That's when Fede peeked his curly head around the corner. He asked me what I was doing with a smile and I told him; "nothing". But I was doing something. I was hiding from him, because the boys in my school were really loud and could be very mean to girls. He asked me for my name and I told him it was Jade. He told me his name was Fede. This always makes me laugh because it's typical me. Fede told me I made the weirdest face when he told me his name. 'What does that mean?'. I'd asked confused, he told me it meant peace. I never in my life heard that name before. I knew a lot of emmas and there were three Ben's in my class. Although I never heard this strange name before, i never once forgot it, stuck by me.

I briefly saw him that day, and it wasn't anything special. The boy with the strange name went on his way, as his father had bought his first breath in my dad's shop. After that they would come by every weekend to get some bread until I got old enough to remember what it felt like, when I saw him, my lovely sweet friend. I remember how happy it made me when he came by. I got butterflies in my stomach when I heard the little bell above the door make its sound. With every visit, I would get more enthusiastic. With every visit, we would greet each other a little braver. At first, we clumsily waved, then we gave each other a high five and after that we just hugged.

Fede and I got so close, I consider him my brother. Sometimes I considered him the embodiment of every bad thing I ever did in my life. Fede was raised different, because of his dad being too busy most of the time and his mom dying when he was little, he just had to figure it out by himself. So Fede did and Fede never did things half way. When you told him to jump, he would jump and make a Salto for show. He was just wild, and maybe that's what I love so much about him. He's always searching for the next adventure, and he never forgot to take me with him.

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